Author: Tsuyoshi Sato (author).
Specifications: 46-size / 416 pages.
A moving non-fiction work that carefully depicts the human drama surrounding The Beatles' visit to Japan.
The Beatles' Japan tour in 1966 was just before they stopped performing live, and it was their first and last chance. Behind the scenes, various businessmen were involved in overcoming numerous obstacles to make this miraculous event a success. At the center of it all was a man named Ishizaka Hanichiro, who was the de facto manager of Toshiba Music Industries, the company that released the Beatles' records. Toshiba's record division, which was established under the auspices of Ishizaka Taizo, the greatest postwar business leader known as the "Prime Minister of the Business World" and who served as president of Toshiba and chairman of the Japan Business Federation, became independent as Toshiba Music Industries in 1960, and Hanichiro was put in charge of its operation, helping the record company grow significantly. Hanichiro, a relative of Taizo, is also the father of Ishizaka Keiichi, a Western music man known as the "director who sold the Beatles' records."
In June 1963, Sakamoto Kyu's "Sukiyaki (Ue o Muite Arukou)" landed in America from the East Asian island nation, reaching number one in the US and becoming a hit around the world, but this was the work of Han'ichiro. Soon after, Han'ichiro decided to release the Beatles, who were creating a huge sensation in the UK, in Japan, and led them to a brilliant hit. He then began planning to invite the Beatles to Japan.
Han'ichiro began to work towards making the Japan tour a reality, negotiating with EMI in the UK and NEMS, the Beatles' management company. To that end, he supported the magazine Music Life, sought the help of Taizo, and even brought in Matsutaro Shoriki, the head of the Yomiuri Group. Han'ichiro kept the entire negotiation process secret, never disclosing anything about it. He then handed over the final execution to Tatsuji Nagashima of Kyodo Planning Agency.
Author Takeshi Sato digs up the hidden process of how the deal was made from a music business perspective through painstaking research. The actions of a wide range of characters, including Beatles manager Brian Epstein, publicist Tony Barlow, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Capitol's A&R Dave Dexter Jr., director Hiroyuki Takashima, Music Life's Shoichi Kusano and Rumiko Hoshika, as well as Tatsuji Nagashima, Matsutaro Shoriki, and Taizo Ishizaka, are vividly depicted, creating a grand human drama.
This is a story about music, business, and the dreams of young boys and girls surrounding Toshiba Records, which was born as a small division of Tokyo Shibaura Electric, a leading company that was a symbol of Japan's postwar economic recovery. It documents how a big bang occurred in Japanese music history, brought about by a group of educated, Meiji-era-born, "samurai"-like gentlemen who hated to stand out.